Bicycle-skate.



B. F. BOWEN.

BICYCLE SKATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16, I916.

INVENTOR We/V Patented Oct. 2,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- WITNESSES ATTORN EY B. F. BOWEN.

BICYCLE SKATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 16. 1916. Q 1,241,607. v Patented 001;. 2,1917.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR WITNESSES v -F2' Z 5Cw/1 F6OW6VI I '0 (QWW ATTORNEY I BENJAMIN F. BOWEN, OF RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA.

BicYcLE-sKArn.

I Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

Application filed Marbh 16, 1916. Serial No. 84,689.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. BOWEN, a citizen of the United States residin at Richmond, in the county of (lontra osta and State of California, have invented certain new and ,useful Improvements in Bicycle-Skates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bicycle skates and more particularly to the class of roller skates which are designed to carry mechanism for imparting motion to the Wheels of the skate whereby the skater may, by simple movement of the foot, cause the skate to travel over the ground or floor without the usual exertion which is necessary'in the common roller skate.

A further object of the-invention is the provision of a skatehaving mechanism for imparting rotary motion to the wheels thereof, provision being made for the quick stopping of the skate by means of a ground engaging brake which may be operated at the will of the skater.

The invention further aims to provide a skate which by virtue of its construction, will allow the skater to easily maintain his equilibrium, the frame and foot plate of the skate being suspended considerably below the horizontal center line of the wheels of the skate, thereby making balancing easily accomplished.

The invention has as a further object the provision of an automatically operated clutch which engages and disengages the driving wheel as the operating mechanism is put in motion by theskater.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a bicycle skate which consists of comparatively few parts and is simple in construction, but durable and well adapted to withstand the rough usage to which devices of this character are ordinarily subjected.

For a full description of the invention and the advantages and merits thereof, reference is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein is illustrated the preferred form of my invention, in which:

Figure lis a side elevation.

Fig. 2' is a top plan view.

Fig, 3 is a vertical section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4: is a section through the brake operating mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the clutch disk.

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the clutch fingers.

The front wheel 1 and a rear wheel 2 may be of any convenient size or diameter and each is provided on its outer periphery with a flange 3 which is formed m the shape of a channel for receiving the rubber tire 4. Each wheel is provided with a journal 5 on which-is suspended the frame 6 whichv consists of the plate 7 and the angularly disposed bearing arms 8 whichare arranged at an obtuse angle with respectto the horizontal line of the plate, whereby the plate may be suspended below the horizontal center line of the wheels and in comparatively close proximity to the ground line. By placing the plate in this low plane, it has been found that the equilibrium of the skater is more easily maintained than is the case in the skates where the sole of the shoe of the operator rests in a plane above the horizontal center line of the wheels.

Mounted upon the frame of the skate is a foot plate 9 which is provided with a hinge 10 fixed to the frame plate 7 slightly in advance of the center of the plate, the foot plate 9 being provided with clips 11 which are adapted to engage the sole of the shoe of the skater. The foot plate 9 has rearwardly extending therefrom a pair of arms 12 and 13 which diverge from the rear portion of the foot plate and are connected at their ends by a rack bar 14: upon which is formed a plurality of teeth 15, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described. The arms 12 and 13 extend from upstandingheel embracing portions 16 to which is attached the securing strap 17 which is adapted to be fastened across the instep of the shoe of the i mm and to theweb 2 of the wheel by means of the securing bolts 19 which extend through openings in the flanges 20 which are formed on each half section of the cylindrical casing 18. The ends of the arms 8 are mounted, upon bearings 21 which extend outwardly from each face of-the sections of the cylindrical housing 18 and are provided with roller bearings 22, the ends of the arms 8 being held in place by the flanges 23 which are formed on the ends of the bearings 21. Each endof thejournal 5 is provided with a square portion 24 which has mounted thereon a pinion 25, the teeth of which are adapted to engage the teeth 15 of the rack bar 14 which is secured to or integrally formed with the foot plate 9. Beyond the ends of the square portions 24 is a screw threaded end 26 upon which a nut 27 is mounted for retaining the pinions- 25 in their proper places.

Within the casing 18 is mounted a clutch disk 28 which is keyed to the journal 5, the

secure his shoe upon the foot plate 9 asshownby Fig. 1 of'thedrawings. By virtue of the hinge 10, the skater may impart reciprocatory motion to the foot plate 9 by I raising and lowering his heel which. will cause the teeth 15 of the rack bar 14 to mesh with the width of the pinion 25, whereby a rotary motion will be imparted to the journal 5 of the rear wheel. As the journal 5 is rotated the clutch disk 28 will also be rotated and by virtue of thedirection of its rotation, as indicated by the arrow in Fig.

5, the clutch fingers 31- will, by centrifugal.

force, be made to engage the inner periphery 33 of the housing 18 and as they will'tightly engage the housing, a rotary motion will be imparted to the wheel and the'skate -made to travel along the ground. This operation occurs when the foot-plate is forced in a downward direction. Nowwhen the foot plate is again brought up to start another power stroke the teeth of the pinion and rack bar will, of course, be still in mesh and in order that the pinion may be rotated in the opposite direction whereby the foot plate may be raised to begin another power stroke, the finger clutch members will be disengaged from the inner periphery 33 of the housing 18 because of the opposite direction of rotation which the clutch disk 28 takes when the wheel continues rotating in its forme eorward direction and the pinion is rotated in the opposite direction. Thus the reciprocation of'the foot plate will cause the finger clutches 31 to intermittently engage the inner periphery of the housing whereby any speed may be attained by the skater with respect to the reciprocatory motion of his Y feet.

Pivoted on the under side of the frame plate 7 is a ground engaging brake arm 34 and extending through an aperture in the frame plate 7 is a brake operating rod 35 which is connected to the brake arm 34 as at 36 and is provided at its opposite end with a head 37. An expansion coil spring 38 is interposed between the under face of the head 37 and the upper face of'the plate 7 whereby the brake 34 will be normally held off the ground. To operate the brake it is only necessary to continue the downward motion of the foot plate 9 fora slightly greater distance than is required for .operating the driving mechanism and when this is done, the foot plate will contact with the head 37 of the operating rod 35 and cause the brake arm 34 to engage the ground for stopping the skate.

From the foregoing it will be'observed that a very simple and durable bicycle skate has been provided, the details of which embody the preferred form. I desire .it to be understood however, that slight changes or modifications in the minor details of construction-may be made without departing from the spirit'of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

I claim:

1.' In a'bicycle skate, the combination with a frame having a wheel mounted at each end, the said wheels carrying journals associated with the ends of the frame, a foot plate hingedly mounted upon the frame, a pair of arms extending rearwardly' from each side of the plate, a rack bar'c'onnecting the terminals of each pair of arms and dis- .posed on opposite sides of the rear wheel,

the side edges of a portion of the foot plate being bent to provide heel embracing portions, the material displaced from the s ace between each pair of said arms being ent to-extend. around the rear portion of the heel of the wearer, and means associated with the rear wheel and engageable with the said rack bar whereby the wheel may be rotated when the said foot plate is reciprocated on the said hinge.

2. In a bicycle skate, the combination with I a frame and wheels for supporting the frame, the said wheels being provided with journals,;a casing including two halves, the

proximate edges of the halves being en- I gaged with each other and provided with annular flanges secured to the said wheel,

the said casing being of cylindrical for-L mation and provided with oppositely extending bearings embracin the ends of the said journal, flanges forme at the terminals of the said bearings, each end of the said journal having a square portion, a pinion mounted upon each square portion whereb the pinion will rotate with the journa fastenin elements for retainingthe pinion in position upon the squared portion, the

ends of the said frame being mounted upon the bearings and retained in place by the out of engagement with the inner periphery of the casing when the reciprocatory movement is imparted to the said plate.

the combination 3. In a bicycle skate,

for supporting the with a frame and wheels frame, the said wheels wheel, a friction being provided with journals, a casing mounted upon the journal of the rear wheel and fastened to the clutch member mountedupon the journal fingers adapted to intermittently engage the inner periphery of the casing, a foot plate mounted for reciprocatory movement on the frame, the said casing including longitudinally alined bearings at each end of the casing embracing the ends of the said journal, the ends of the frame being mounted upon the said bearings, pinions carried by the ends of the journal beyond the ends of the said bearings, the said pinions being rigidly fixed to the said .journal, rack bars movably. mounted on each side of the said wheel and each engageable with one of the a said pinions, the said rack bars being connected to the said foot plate.

In testimony whereo I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. BOWEN.

Witnesses:

B. A. MONTOYA, I. M. Game.

and provided with clutch 

